Thank you to everyone who tuned in to The Other Side of LIVE! and tonight’s guests Bocca Musica. This podcast is a look at chasing & catching your dreams on the Bawdy side of life. So, it’s a little naughtier than usual—you have been warned!

Bocca Musica™ is an international, award winning, musical-comedy troupe that mixes traditional drinking songs, bawdy songs, spoofs of musical theatre and modern songs with jokes, toasts and our own brand of slapstick.

Some of tonight’s highlights included:

• A glimpse at the people who make up Bocca Musica. The troupe’s beginnings, what they do, and where they hope to take things
• Discussion about performing at different locales such as the Michigan Renaissance Festival, the Silver Leaf Renaissance Faire, and the Mobil Zoo Renaissance Faire. Also, the preparation that went into their (at the time) upcoming performance for a medical marijuana conference in Ann Arbor, MI
• Lost caller (his portable phone died) “Captain Tiberius” from the crew of the Lusty Wench chapter of the Brethren of the Great Lakes
• Bawdy musical comedy. Impromptu live renditions of three (count ‘em) of their more popular songs: The Lusty Wench, Sad ButTrue, & Party at the Faire
• “Everybody has an inner freak.”
• The service that comedy and comedians provide
• Difficulties with audience members being too familiar with the actor. Talking about how it is to have people walk up to you like they know you from your show. Not respecting boundaries, confusing the character for the real person
• Stalkers!
• Parental complaints
• How Tomas (the youngest member) joined the ranks of Bocca Musica

The boys get warmed up with Mordant asking Charles about how he dealt with his internet being gone for a week. Charles talks about the importance of having a support structure or a team in place to overcome adversity. They also talk about the freedom from work temporary as it may be.

A caller asks about the movie Mordant talked about in the last episode and it leads into a conversation about portraying the darker characters and having to get into the role.
Sometimes it can be dangerous and of course they discuss Heath Ledger.

Finally Mordant get’s into what his next big goal is and the preparations for it. He specifically talks about finding your beacon and aiming for it.

So… I’m trying something new. I’m trying Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It’s voice-recognition software that allows me to dictate my e-mails, my documents, even spreadsheets. Anything that I would normally type, I’m able to crank out vocally. Of course, “crank” appears very optimistic at this stage in the game.

There seems to be a learning curve on this program. Although it is writing out everything I say as I say it, it wants to write out all the correction commands I’m making. Surely this isn’t my fault. Surely it’s because the program hasn’t figured out the way I speak, and not the fact that I haven’t learned how the program works – with its specific commands for its specific functions. Surely that’s it. Right?

Riiiiight.

At this point, it would be easier to just type this thing out, mumbling “what’s all the fuss about?” My life would be much easier if I threw up my hands and said “why bother?” But, I’m not in the business of easy. I’m in the business of telling people to try new things, to challenge themselves. I’m in the business of teaching people to dance outside their Comfort Zone. That includes me.

You see, I’m people, too.

Even now as I play with this software, I am learning how to do it. True, I am learning slowly, but I am learning nonetheless. Even so, there is still so much that I have to learn, and it is veryfrustrating. But, I will keep plugging away until I get it… Or I grow bored.

We’ll see which happens first.

I have written this entire blog via Dragon NaturallySpeaking (not including certain corrected bits and parts edited in later). It has taken me at least three times as long to complete (I’m guessing; it’s probably longer). However, my hands have only touched the keyboard when it was absolutely necessary. Even now my fingers are laced behind my head and I am leaning back resting. As I speak, it “writes.” I could get used to this.

But, I’ve got to learn to use it first.

There are a lot of new things I have been working on lately, and especially so if you take into account all I’ve accomplished over this past year. Yet, the more I learn, the more I discover I have so much left to learn. But, I will keep plugging away until I get it…

Or I grow bored. (Bazinga!)

So, what does all this have to do with you – this long apparent advertisement for my new “toy”? Mucho or nada (I’ve begun learning Spanish again as well) – it all depends on how you take it. All I’m doing is sharing my experiences with you, hoping that you will see something in them that helps you move forward. As always, I challenge you to find new things. To stretch yourself in new ways. Things that make you think. Things that push you up off your couch, out of your cave, and back into the sunshine. Things that will keep you fresh and new as these very things you are trying.

My mother learned to surf the Internet at 80. True she was drawn to all the knitting sites and her e-mails were only sent to her younger friends (60s or so). But, by teaching herself this, she taught me that you are never too old to learn something new, something fresh. And, that there is nothing, nothing meant only for the young.

Only for the young at heart.

So, go out there and find your new thing. Try yoga if you need to stretch your body, or learn a new computer software if you need to stretch your mind (and test your patience). Something that will further you as a person, that will bring you closer to your dream. Something that you need, something that you want, or even something that catches your fancy, but find it you must. I challenge you. True, it will not be easy at first, but the rewards and self-satisfaction will be immeasurable.

R. Mordant Mahon starts off chatting about the 4th of July with Charles and they have a short discussion on the meaning of holidays. Then the director of “Beautiful Brit Baker,” Alan Esparza, joins the guys to talk about his journey into creating this film. Discussed are his writing experiences, losing his work, having the right people involved, and chasing and catching his dream of making a movie.

They also chat about the story, changing the book into a screen play, casting the right people vs changing the characters, and how this will be Mordant’s first IMDB listing!

After Alan leaves, the boys discuss different aspects of the acting biz, not turning down rolls, politics in film, and how Mordant likes to be cast as the bad guy.

Everything you need to know about R. Mordant Mahon can be found at Mordantworld.com

The “Season of Suck” when you start out in a new venture or project,
Living what you love,
Finding your passion and being able to afford it,
Figuring out your dream may not be what you started out thinking it was,
Listening to the people around you,
Making goals and taking baby steps,
and Being overwhelmed leads to learning to breath and delegate the tasks.

Tom calls in and gives advice on starting your dreams even through fear.

Book Quotes from:

“What would you talk for hours with a stranger about? That is your dream subject”.

Thanks to everyone who listened to The Other Side of Live! tonight with guests Allison Williams and Charles McFall. The theme was “Branding Your Passion”, and some highlights included:

The power of a concrete product paired with the ability to execute
How to figure out your passion, and where in your life that passion may already be showing
Developing a side hustle based on your passion
Deciding what you want your brand to be, and applying that to your interactions with colleagues, friends and clients
Staying true to your core beliefs while monetizing or making an impact with your passion

Dragon’s Den, the CBC show on which Allison and her partner Zay won a $250,000 investment for their company, is here:
(it’s worth checking out their blog for advice on pitching your ideas to investors): http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/

Starfish Circus, a school residency program in which 80 kids grades K-12 put on a circus show in two weeks.Aerial Angels, corporate and festival circus entertainment.Stand Up 8, a touring circus-comedy show.

The boys start off light and easy talking about the Easter Sunday weekend at the Ren Fest. Then we have a very special guest join in – Ronn Bauman (Scaramouche of the Tortuga Twins) the Dave Ramsey Missionary!

Ronn talks about growing up poor, learning that way of life, and accumulating a lot of debt. The group moves on to cover the ideas of:

Money is Power
Freedom from Money is power, too
Pay cash as often as you can
Mordant rethinks everything
Emergency fund
Ronn talks about the baby steps

R. Mordant Mahon and his producer Charles ask the question “Where do actions come from?” The princess calls in and shares a story about how she took action and the experience she gained from it, Mahon brings up personal stories at the behest of Charles, they talk about making lists, taking baby steps, and finding a positive place to dwell. The guys also cover what is Quantum Manifestation and give dueling advice to 2 new callers to the show.

Callers include: The Princess, Rock Giirl, Anya, Annie, David, and a 16yo looking to be in theater.

R. Mordant Mahon is joined by Naomi Mimi, Rhonnie DuBoise, and his producer Charles McFall to ask “What are you afraid of?” The group covers the range of embracing yourself, holding yourself back, how do you react to fear, who can you redefine fear, and dealing with fear in everyday life.

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